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Trauma System/Injury Prevention Program Home
- Injury is the leading cause of death from 1 year to 34 years of age in Indiana and in the U.S. More than 95,000 Hoosiers are hospitalized, and over 5,000 die from injuries each year. Source: Injuries in Indiana data report, ISDH Injury Prevention Program, 2005
- Trauma refers to people who have sustained severe injuries, requiring rapid evaluation and transport to specific hospitals with trauma care capabilities, staffed and equipped to provide the comprehensive care needed. All hospital emergency departments are not trauma centers.
- A trauma system is an organized, coordinated effort in a geographic area that delivers the full range of care to all injured patients. Until March 2006, Indiana was one of a very few states with no laws or regulations providing legal authority for state oversight of trauma care, a necessary element of a trauma system. Public Law 155 - 2006 now provides authority for the Indiana State Department of Health to be the lead state agency for an Indiana trauma care system.
- States with trauma systems have a review process to designate hospitals according to the level of care that can be provided to injured patients – ranging from emergency department evaluation and stabilization in smaller hospitals to the most comprehensive levels of care provided in hospitals verified by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma (ACS-COT).
- Indiana has 8 hospitals that are Level I or Level II trauma centers as verified through a strenuous review process by the American College of Surgeons Committee on Trauma:
Indianapolis –Wishard, Methodist, Riley Hospitals (Level I)
Fort Wayne – Parkview and Lutheran Hospitals (Level II)
South Bend – Memorial Hospital (Level II)
Evansville – St. Mary’s and Deaconess Hospitals (Level II)
- Indiana trauma system development is being accomplished by an Indiana State Department of Health (ISDH) Trauma System Advisory Task Force, organized in May 2004. The Task Force has broad representation from numerous organizations and individuals interested in developing a statewide trauma care system. Organizations and individuals represented include:
- Indiana State Health Department
- Indiana Rural Health Association
- Indiana Farm Bureau Insurance
- Indiana Emergency Nurses’ Association
- Indiana American College of Emergency Physicians
- Indiana American College of Surgeons – Committee on Trauma
- Indiana Hospital Association
- Indiana Department of Homeland Security, Fire and Emergency Medical Services
- Indiana Trauma Network
- Trauma surgeons, emergency physicians, registered nurses, paramedics, state legislators, hospital administrators, rehabilitation specialists, and others.
- Issues being considered by the Task Force include:
- leadership of a statewide trauma system
- policies, legislation and financing needed for such a system
- system design, based on data and needs assessments
- education of policy-makers, health professionals and the public
- information management and quality of care indicators
- collaboration and resources to support a statewide system
- development and maintenance of a state trauma registry
- standards and procedures for trauma care level designation of hospitals.
- Task Force conclusions:
- The goal of a statewide trauma system is the prevention of injuries and the coordination of care of injured patients to accomplish decreased death and disabilities due to trauma.
- It is desirable for all Indiana hospitals to eventually be part of a statewide trauma system, based on the level of care each hospital is able to provide.
- System participation by hospitals would be voluntary.
- Collaboration between emergency medical services, hospitals, rehabilitation facilities and public health is needed.
- A statewide trauma registry is necessary because it provides a proven mechanism to examine trauma patient care data on a confidential basis.
- Widespread education is needed to inform numerous constituencies (legislators, hospitals, the public) about a statewide trauma system.
- Task Force accomplishments so far:
- Passage of Public Law 155 (2006)
- Partnership with Indiana State Council of the Emergency Nurses’ Association and the State Office of Rural Health to provide trauma training for rural/critical access hospital (CAH) nurses
- Statewide trauma registry launched (http://www.indianatrauma.org/): Importing data from seven ACS-verified trauma centers (and other hospitals with existing trauma registries); pilot of state trauma registry transfer record conducted with 15 CAHs in 2008; hiring of state trauma registry manager – September, 2008; continuing to add additional hospitals in 2009
- Draft administrative rules for designation of hospitals as trauma centers in progress
- Several grants for trauma/injury prevention programs were awarded in 2006 with much positive feedback from recipients
- Task Force distribution list has grown from ~ 50 to well over 100 in the past year, with many hospitals and organizations throughout the state expressing an interest in trauma system development
- Trauma Times newsletter launched in 2008
- ACS-COT state trauma system consultation completed in December, 2008: Implementation of consultation recommendations beginning in 2009.
- Trauma is an important public health and health care delivery issue because of its major impact on the lives and health of Hoosiers.
For more information about the Indiana Trauma System Advisory Task Force or Indiana trauma & injury prevention system development, contact:
· Susan Perkins, R.N., ISDH Trauma System Manager, at (317) 234-2890 or e-mail at sperkins@isdh.in.gov
· Tracie Pettit, R.N., ISDH Trauma Registry Manager, at (317) 234-2888 or e-mail at tpettit@isdh.in.gov
· Jodi Hackworth, MPH, ISDH Injury Prevention Epidemiologist, at (317) 234-6379 or email at jhackworth@isdh.in.gov
